Secret of the Ninja
by Misdreavus573
Summary: Ibuki is normally a cheerful, if ditsy, girl, but she has a secret that has been tearing her apart. One-shot, please read and review!


It was Saturday evening in a small ninja village in Japan. School was out, and there were no scheduled ninjitsu training sessions for the entire weekend. By all accounts, the teenage schoolgirl slash ninja disciple Ibuki should have been ecstatic. She should have been at the mall at the big city nearby with all of her friends.

But, she wasn't. She told her friends that she was sick, and that she couldn't go. But that was a lie. The normally bubbly and ditsy ninja girl was in a depression. For the past two months, she was avoiding her family, her friends, her boyfriend, even her pet raccoon as much as she could, brooding in her room, alone.

Laying in her bed, Ibuki picked up a small picture frame, and gazed at the picture it held inside. The picture had been taken only two weeks ago. On this picture were herself and a few other people. Ibuki held a weak smile, her shoulder being held by her boyfriend. There were also two of her friends from school, and another friend of hers that lived in a small dojo just outside of her town.

This last girl's name was Makoto. She had a small, but confident smile on her face. She had short, unkempt hair that didn't quite reach her shoulders. Instead of her usual karate gi, she wore a white collar shirt, a short, striped tie, a miniskirt, and gray sneakers. She had tape wrapped around both of her hands, and the top of her right leg. Yes, Makoto was known for dressing rather boyish.

Upon seeing her best friend Makoto, Ibuki felt a warm smile on her face, possibly for the first time in months. But that smile faded when she remembered why she was as depressed as she was. The ninja student wasn't depressed without reason. Something was eating at her; she had a secret that she was terrified to tell anyone, yet at the same time, she really wanted to tell someone. It was tearing her life apart. Looking at her best friend in the picture in her hands a second time, she had come to a decision: she would tell Makoto her secret.

It was 7:00 on a Saturday, and her family had already had dinner. The ninja girl had nothing to attend to that night, and she knew her karate girl friend hadn't either, and Makoto rarely went out when not invited by Ibuki, so she would most certainly be at her dojo. This was the perfect time to finally get her secret off her chest. Picking up her purple cell phone, she called Makoto's number.

"Makoto of the Rindo-kan dojo, speaking."

"Hey, Mako, it's Ibuki."

"Oh, hey. I would've thought you'd be out shopping right now."

"Just wasn't up to it today... hey, can I come over to your place? I kind of need to talk to you."

"Huh? About what?"

"We'll talk more about it when I get there, if that's okay."

"Sure thing. Um... are you alright? You don't sound too good."

Ibuki forced a small chuckle. "I'm fine. I'll be there soon."

"Right. Later then."

Ibuki, not bothering to change from her school outfit, pocketed her cell phone, and walked outside of her room.

"Where are you going?" Ibuki's mother asked, seeing her daughter making for the front door.

"I'm gonna go hang out at Makoto's place."

"Oh? I thought you were sick today?"

"I was, but I'm feeling better by now."

"Oh, well don't stay out too late then."

"I won't, I promise. Later mom."

Upon leaving her house, Ibuki quickly walked, almost ran, in the direction of Makoto's dojo just outside of town. It was getting dark out, and almost nobody was out besides her. Since her village was small, it didn't take her long to get to the woods outside of her town, and reach the small, somewhat beat up dojo that Makoto lived in.

Ibuki knocked on the door, and it was quickly answered by the karate girl in question. Makoto was in her karate gear, which meant that she had been training today. She had on her white gi, with a red sports bra visible underneath, and a long, yellow silk scarf hanging from her neck, and was barefoot.

Makoto grinned when seeing her friend. "Hey, come on in."

"Thanks." The usually bubbly Ibuki could only manage a weak smirk.

Makoto made to the couch by the wall of her dojo, and Ibuki followed, both sitting down.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Makoto asked.

"..."

"...um, you okay 'Buki?"

"Makoto, you know how I have a boyfriend? And how I'm always talking about boys and stuff?" Ibuki was known for always going on about "cute boys!"

"Yeah. So?"

"I... I've been lying this whole time. Or rather, I've been living a lie."

"Huh? What do you mean "living a lie?"

"I don't like boys. I like... girls."

"Oh, you mean..."

"Yeah. I'm lesbian. And I'm sick and tired of pretending to be who I'm not! I'm tired of pretending to be "boy crazy", and talking about boys with the girls, and having to kiss and hold hands with my boyfriend, and hiding in the closet about who I really am! I just to love freely like everyone else, I just want to have a girlfriend." Tears were dropping from Ibuki's eyes.

The real reason why she went to Makoto was because Makoto was lesbian herself, and was much more open about it, so she knew how it felt to be tolerated but not quite accepted for who she was in this world. "I'm so s-scared! I-I don't know what to do! Please, h-help me Mako!" The ninja was shaking at this point. The karate girl grasped her best friend and held her, gently rubbing the back of her head.

"Hey, hey, it's alright. It's fine with me, 'Buki."

"I-I want to tell everyone, but I can't! What will they say?"

"It'll be okay. After all, they know about me, and they seem pretty cool with it."

"And what will I tell my boyfriend?"

"Just tell him how you really feel. I'm sure he'll be okay with it."

"I... I'm just so afraid."

"I know, but you're going to tell everyone eventually." Makoto said, gently lifting Ibuki out of her embrace. "You can't keep pretending to be someone you're not. And besides, when people will be more accepting than you think, believe me. I know it'll take a little courage, but I promise it'll be okay, and you'll really feel like you've lifted a huge weight off your shoulders after."

"Okay, but, um, can you be there with me? Just so I can be a little more confident, I guess?"

Smirking, Makoto responded "Sure thing. And if, by any chance, someone does insult you for it, let me know, and I can deal with it my own special way."

The ninja schoolgirl had with her first genuine laugh in quite a while. "I'm sure you will, Mako."

"But, now that you've come to talk to me, I wanted to ask you something as well, Ibuki..." Suddenly, Makoto looked nervous, a rarity for the fiery karate girl, glancing down at her own bare feet.

"Huh? What is it, Mako?"

"I, um, wanted to know... if you wanted to, um, you know, g-go out sometime. G-get lunch, dinner, s-see a movie..."

Blushing, Ibuki had an even bigger and warmer smile than earlier that day. "I'd love to, Makoto. Call me anytime." Ibuki said. She then planted a small kiss to Makoto's cheek, which were even more red. "Bye Mako!"

"Bye, 'Buki!" Makoto shyly said to her new girlfriend, before the ninja girl walked out of the dojo, the happiest she had ever been in her life.

* * *

><p><strong>What? You never noticed that Ibuki is just a little <em>too<em> "boy crazy?" It's pretty obvious that she's compensating for something _**

**Anyway, this is just a little something I wanted to write. Writing about LGBT issues in a positive way feels good, especially since I'm part of it myself.**

**By the way, if anyone is wondering what happened to my Dan story "The Pink Warrior", I guess I just didn't really have the desire to continue writing for it after all, so I just removed it. I might give it another try one day, but for now it'd be much easier to just write one/two-shots instead of full blown out stories. Sorry...**

**Hope you like this one, though. Read and review =)**


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